Moses Mague ǁGaroëb (14 April 1942, in Arixas near Mariental – 19 August 1997, in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

) was a

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

n politician, founding member of SWAPO, and member of SWAPO's

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

and Central Committee. During his political career, ǁGaroëb served in the

Constituent Assembly of Namibia Below is a list of members of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia, which became the National Assembly of Namibia upon independence in March 1990. Individual members were selected by political parties voted for in the 1989 election, the first ...

and was a Member of Parliament from the day of Namibian independence, 21 March 1990. He was appointed Minister of Labour and Human Resources in 1995, a position he held until his death.

Career

ǁGaroëb was born in April 1942 at , Arixas near Mariental as the son of Samuel Geingob and Rebecca Geingos. At the age of 17, he took an active part in the demonstrations against the forced removal from Windhoek's Old Location to Katutura, and witnessed the massacre of 12 December 1959. He went into exile in 1961 as a member of SWANU, and joined SWAPO in the same year. He went to study in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and appeared before the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in the early 1960s. After graduating with a BA in Political Science from the University of Rochester in New York, he returned from the U.S. to Africa in 1966. In

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, he became a broadcaster with '' The Namibian Hour'' from Radio Tanzania, and then editor of SWAPO's newsletter '' Namibia Today'' and Director of Information. At the SWAPO Consultative Congress in Tanga, 1969, he was appointed a member of the Central Committee and Executive Committee (later Political Bureau), positions which he held until his death, and SWAPO Administrative Secretary (until 1989). He was elected into the Constituent Assembly in 1989, continued as a member of the first National Assembly of Namibia, and was re-elected in 1994. From 1990 to 1995, he served as SWAPO Secretary-General. From 1995 until his death he was Minister of Labour and Human Resources.

Death and legacy

Moses ǁGaroëb was a SWAPO loyalist. Not having a tribal power-base, his popularity within SWAPO was based on his outspokenness and his accessibility as an Administrative Secretary, while outside SWAPO, his often uncompromising and hard-hitting statements made him many enemies. ǁGaroëb was married to Carol ǁGaroës. They had four children. ǁGaroëb last years were overshadowed by progressing ill-health (

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

). He died on 19 August 1997 in Windhoek and was one of the first leaders of the independent Republic of Namibia who received a state funeral at the Old Location Cemetery on 27 September 1997. Founding president Sam Nujoma,

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister A prime minister ...

and

Theo-Ben Gurirab Theo-Ben Gurirab (23 January 1938 – 14 July 2018) was a Namibian politician who served in various senior government positions. He served as the second prime minister of Namibia from 28 August 2002 to 20 March 2005, following the demotion and ...

all attended his tombstone unveiling ceremony. On 26 August 2015, Namibia's Heroes' Day, ǁGaroëb was reburied at Namibia's National Heroes' Acre. Moses ǁGaroëb Constituency in Windhoek is named after him, as well as a street in

Swakopmund Swakopmund ("Mouth of the Swakop River, Swakop") is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 road (Namibia), B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo Region, Erongo administrative district. It ...

and a primary school in Hakahana, Katutura.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garoeb, Moses 1942 births 1997 deaths Diabetes-related deaths Politicians from Hardap Region Damara people SWAPO politicians National heroes of Namibia Labour ministers of Namibia Members of the National Assembly (Namibia)